Bears vs. Gators Prediction
The top-ranked Baylor Bears are underdogs on the road tonight in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at the Florida Gators. Can Baylor navigate the tough road atmosphere to record the victory?
Game Snapshot
755 Baylor Bears at 756 Florida Gators
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Exacthech Arena at 8PM ET
TV: ESPN
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According to oddsmakers, the Gators are a 2-point favorite on the spread line. The over-under sits at 131 points. As of Saturday morning, 59 percent of public bets are being placed on host Floriday. Check out our College Basketball Public Betting Page for the latest info.
Bears edge Sooners
Baylor downed visiting Oklahoma Monday night by a score of 61-57 to improve to 16-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12 Conference. The Bears led 35-24 at halftime before holding off a second-half rally by the Sooners. MaCio Teague paced Baylor with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting including 2-of-9 from 3-point distance plus 6-of-7 at the free throw line. He also notched three steals and two assists. Davion Mitchell accounted for 13 points and four rebounds. Freddie Gillespie added 12 points and 15 boards.
Gators edged by Tigers
Florida lost 84-82 at Louisiana State Tuesday night to drop to 12-6 overall and 4-2 in the Southeastern Conference. The Gators were outscored 50-46 in the second half after leading by two at the break. Keyontae Johnson paced Florida with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting including 3-of-6 from 3-point range plus 1-of-2 at the charity stripe. He also pulled down nine rebounds. Noah Locke tallied 16 points and two boards. Kerry Blackshear Jr. registered 15 points, five caroms and two assists. Andrew Nembhard added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
College Basketball Betting Trends
Baylor
The Bears are 5-0 ATS in their last five games as an underdog. Baylor is 5-0 ATS in its last five Saturday games.
Florida
The Gators are 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall. Florida is 5-15 ATS in its last 20 home games.
Prediction:
It’s strange to see the No. 1 ranked team in the nation an underdog on the road against an unranked foe. And while unranked teams that are favored against ranked opponents have a pretty strong history of covering spreads, I still like the Bears in this spot. Baylor beat Kansas by 12 on the road and prior to that Texas Tech by five. Overall, the Red Raiders are 4-0 straight up on the road. Sure, Florida will be up for this contest and has a veteran core that knows how to win. But the Bears are battle-tested and I’d rather take the points with a team that has shown the ability to rise up for any occasion.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL DAILY PREDICTION: BAYLOR BEARS +2